A US YouTuber IShowSpeed, completes a month-long tour of Africa; Ghana’s foreign minister announced that the influencer has been granted citizenship. Ghana has granted citizenship to US YouTuber IShowSpeed, the country’s foreign minister announced, as the influencer wraps up a month-long tour of Africa.
In an X post on Monday, Foreign Minister Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa stated that his government “has approved the issuance of a Ghanaian passport to IShowSpeed” after “confirmation of the irrefutable ties of IShowSpeed to Ghana.”
“Continue to make our beloved African continent and our wonderful country, Ghana, proud.” “You are celebrated in Ghana,” the minister declared.
Born Darren Jason Watkins Jr. in Cincinnati, Ohio, the 21-year-old African American IShowSpeed is one of the most popular influencers worldwide.
Forbes estimates his net worth at $20 million, Rolling Stone named him the Most Influential Creator of 2025, and he reached 50 million YouTube subscribers this month.
Beginning on December 29, the YouTube and Twitch star’s tour has taken him to 20 countries, showcasing a different side of Africa to his tens of millions of fans. He visited a diamond mine in Botswana, sampled Ethiopia’s delectable cuisine, and went to the Africa Cup of Nations football final in Morocco.
His coverage of the continent has captured the attention of his channel’s subscribers, and some African Americans have posted heartfelt videos of their own, claiming that IShowSpeed has given them a completely different perspective on Africa, one that is far from the TV clichés of perpetual poverty and violence.
